by Ron Foster
By Dean Wilding
Ingredients: • butter
• 2 medium diced onions
• 1 clove garlic or garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• ½ teaspoon basil
• ½ teaspoon marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt
• black pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• ¾ cup whole wheat
• ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup of grated zucchini (optional)
Preparing the Wheat:
The night before you make the wheat patties start preparing the wheat. Put ¾ cup of wheat in the bottom of a thermos. Fill the rest of the thermos with boiling water. Put the lid on the thermos and let the wheat cook overnight. These are also known as wheat berries or flask wheat.
Cooking the wheat this way gives it a chewy, meat texture. Note: You'll need a thermos that's about 32 oz (1 quart). If you have a large family, you might want to get a larger thermos so you can make a double batch.
Making the Patties
Sauté onions in a little bit of butter and add herbs, salt, and pepper.
Add cooked wheat, breadcrumbs, eggs, and zucchini.
Form into patties and fry in a pan. Brown well.
Enjoy! “Hey man, anything fried is count to me, lol I am a southern boy. It beats hot water and wheat berries for cereal, learn to do it while we got some cooking oil and get your innards used to it, some folks are allergic to wheat but even the best of us got to get our guts used to digesting it if it’s not a regular staple in our diet.” Donald told him knowing that sharp changes in diet would bring on some peculiar results in digestion that lack of a normal toilet would complicate most likely.
“I got it, start eating a bit here and there of it, thanks for the advice. I assume we got plenty of salt and sugar or do you have any holes in your preps I need to consider?” Michael said getting on the bandwagon of mixing iron rations with normal food as an extender.
“I probably got lots but let me think for a second… Peanut butter, I got a few jars of ready made and have one can of dehydrated and no oil to add to that to make it more like store bought. That’s my also my universal animal bait so don’t eat it all up, wait for me to catch something with it instead. Do you know what’s nasty? Cleaning a damn animal without free access to wash water is pretty gruesome. Be careful about your fingernails, Man. You can poison yourself handling food and if you think about getting intimate with your wife, don’t go there unless you scrubbed up real good. Be exceedingly careful what you touch and might cook on some not so clean surfaces, diarrhea can dehydrate you quicker than anything else and lord forbid if anyone gets contagious dysentery.” Donald said, thinking of the myriad of things he knew but had not related in his many short preparedness discussions. He had several pairs of those big rubber chemical suit gloves from an online military surplus store to do the task with but they get nasty quick also and need to be cleaned.
“Old man, you have always said that you were a wealth of useless or useful information, but I had not thought of that one before. What do you do for that anyway? Dysentery disease, I mean.” Michael asked, regarding Don going to one of his prep cabinets to get several bottles of hand sanitizer to distribute to the house guests.
“I am not sure, but Janice can tell you if she makes it up here. Me, I say depend on the universal dehydration sickness cure all because that diarrhea will dehydrate you. Rehydration of the body is the key to many illnesses.
What is Dehydration? Most of us can be dehydrated on a daily basis. We just don’t drink enough water….and the Diet Coke doesn't count! Water is essential to good health. Dehydration can occur when the total fluid loss is just 5%!
Signs of Dehydration
Mild to moderate dehydration is likely to cause: • Dry sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
• Thirst
• Decreased urine output — fewer than six wet diapers a day for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
• Few or no tears when crying
• Muscle weakness
• Headache
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
Severe dehydration, a medical emergency, can cause: • Extreme thirst
• Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
• Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
• Lack of sweating
• Little or no urination — any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
• Sunken eyes
• Shriveled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and doesn't "bounce back" when pinched into a fold
• In infants, sunken fontanels — the soft spots on the top of a baby's head
• Low blood pressure
• Rapid heartbeat
• Fever
• In the most serious cases, delirium or unconsciousness.
Unfortunately, thirst isn't always a reliable gauge of the body's need for water, especially in children and older adults. A better barometer is the color of your urine: Clear or light-colored urine means you're well hydrated, whereas a dark yellow or amber color usually signals dehydration. Mayo Clinic
What to do if someone is showing symptoms: Immediately start getting fluids down the person. In hospitals they use solutions to replace lost fluids. You can use a formula that is similar for reducing the severity of dehydration by having present in a solution the salts that are lost during a sickness which include a fever, diarrhea or vomiting which would deplete the body of necessary fluids to keep hydrated. It is dangerous to be dehydrated to the point of symptoms occurring, especially in children.
Prevention is the best way to handle dehydration! It would be wise to have the formulas put together, (or at least have the supplies) on hand and use it during the illness, especially if no help is available. Just getting small sips down the person to PREVENT dehydration would be better than trying to fix it. These usually have salt in them to replace salts lost and balance electrolytes. The salts in the solution allow the cells to more readily absorb fluids.
If someone has two or more of the signs of dehydration, it is important to restore fluids as soon as possible. A simple oral dehydration solution can be made by mixing the following ingredients and putting in separate bags then in a first aid kit for immediate use when needed.
REHYDRATION FORMULA • ¼ tsp real salt
• ¼ tsp no salt
(potassium chloride)
• ¼ tsp baking
soda
• 2 ½ tsp sugar Mix into 4 cups of
water. Give the person small
sips of the solution every five
minutes, even if he vomits,
until he begins to urinate normally. The drink can be given with fruit juices as a flavoring.
The person may also drink thin vegetable soup, or the water in which rice or barley has been cooked. (Lana said that we need to use all four items in this rehydration formula to balance our electrolytes. She got this formula from a nurse at the LDS hospital.)
-Taken from “Emergencies! And How to Prepare for Them” by Lana Richardson with her permission, pp. 19-22 Note: This rehydration formula can also be used to PREVENT dehydration when water is scarce. Put it in the water you do have. Your cells will absorb the water more readily with salts present and reduce the onset of becoming dehydrated rather than fluids being “flushed” through your kidneys. Prevention is always better than the cure!
Rehydration Formula Saves Lives
Information about Rehydration formula from World Health Organization Website:
NEW FORMULA FOR ORAL REHYDRATION SALTS WILL SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES
- Number of deaths and severity of illness will be reduced. The new formula Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), released b
y the World Health Organization (WHO), will save millions of lives and reduce the severity of illness of those suffering from acute diarrhea. ORS is a sodium and glucose solution that is widely used to treat children with acute diarrhea, a serious killer of children under five worldwide. The new formula ORS will reduce the severity of diarrhea and vomiting, the number of hospitalizations, the need for costly intravenous (IV) fluid treatment and the length of illness.
The use of ORS is responsible for saving the lives of millions of children worldwide. This inexpensive and readily available intervention reduces death and suffering from dehydration caused by diarrhea. Since WHO adopted ORS in 1978 as its primary tool to fight diarrhea, the mortality rate for children suffering from acute diarrhea has fallen from 5 million to 1.3 million deaths annually.
Note: These statements have not been reviewed by the Food & Drug Administration. These products are not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.
“What the hell is ¼ tsp no salt (potassium chloride)? That makes no sense to me. Think fast. If I say, “potassium,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? I think from my high school days it was bananas or something somebody said about being good for muscles.” remarked Michael.
“Some people have found that potassium chloride, which is a salt substitute (such as the brand No Salt), is an acceptable alternative to its sodium-touting cousin... Well… Unfortunately, I must say that raw potassium chloride may not be the tastiest spice in the grocer’s aisle or on your pantry shelf to the uninitiated. (Though some people I have been around get used to it and love it!) However, when you use it in your cooking, the bitter, tangy taste does often subside. And most people find that after a week or two with less salt in the diet, the penchant for all things salty is gone so that’s a good thing.
You know we need to talk to that wise woman on the hill Catherine. She told me the simplest formula is 3 Tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt, dissolved in 1 quart of potable water.” Donald said, clearing up the matter.
25
Incoming
Donald’s trip into town to get to his moms place was pretty uneventful. He really had no idea what to expect out on the road. Lots of trucks and a few cars broke down on the highway but most drivers had gotten themselves pulled over to the side of the road ok on their own when the geomagnetic storm had fried there onboard computers. He did notice, however, that several vehicles appeared to have been moved out of the road way with a wrecker or pushed to the side by a fire engine or something. That meant state or local infrastructure was most likely still functioning in some form or fashion the last few days he had been gone. Very light traffic, he had maybe only seen 10 moving cars in the last 20 miles or so he had travelled. No hitchhikers though, that surprised him but not really because it had been over a week and a half since the geomagnetic storm had hit. Most likely folks just got off the highway in some form or fashion and were either still trying to get to their destination or had long since arrived at what ever support group they had chosen to ride this disaster out. Most likely, Donald figured, they would have cops directing traffic at the main intersections coming into town. I imagine someone in government has already thought about salvaging those broke down trucks’ cargos because the doors had been open on a few and it didn’t appear they had been looted, just unloaded.
“Maybe this shit won’t be as bad as I think.” Donald mused as he pulled into his Mom’s driveway. “I am so glad you’re home, Donald. I have been so worried about you since you been gone.” Donald’s Mom said as she came out the side door and hugged him as he exited the vehicle.
“I missed you too, Mom, everything as well as can be expected around here?” Donald asked after returning the hug and began walking towards the houses side door.
“Not really, I think you were right about having to leave from here soon. Some people in the area have been shooting guns in the nearby neighborhoods most every night since you left. Sounded like a bad New Year's gang banger party and I have only heard the police sirens a few times around here. No way to call the police anyway even if you needed to and had someone beating down your door trying to get in. Are we leaving soon?” Betty asked, quite flustered and worried as she glanced around the backyards facing her home while gripping a small tear gas dispenser for protection.
“We are going to leave soon but I had not set a date on just when, as of yet. Tell me more about what’s going on. You hear any kind of news or announcements while I have been gone?” Donald asked, knowing she probably had not because he had told her specifically not to go out for any reason while he was gone.
“No, not a word; my radio does not work. I talked to the neighbor once when I saw them out and they are staying close to home also after they almost got hurt in a mob trying to buy groceries. It’s getting bad just like you said it would, Donald.” His Mom told him worriedly.
“I will check it out on my way to downtown tomorrow. I am going to see if my boss showed up at his government office or is not even bothering to come in. Most likely it will be a wasted trip and no one will be there at all. If no one is there, I will make one more plea to Janice to bugout and leave in the next day or so depending on what I find out.” Donald replied and thanked his Mom for the glass of warm lemonade she offered to him.
“I was going to put all the boxes by the door for you to load in the cars but Janice said to leave it spread out through the house. She came by and checked on me this morning. That was so nice of her. She told me that her sister had moved in with her mom for now and she had shared some food with them. We didn’t talk about if they are leaving or not, I guess neither one of us wanted to bring that subject up. I think if they do go, they will go to Ramer and the rest of their kinfolk.” Betty said filling her own glass with tepid lemonade.
“Well, I guess it will be just you and me then. Lowbuck is leaving out in a couple days and I got Michael and Amy guarding the food stores in my prep shed until we get back. I guess I haven’t told you yet about our little neighborly agreement. You see it takes community or some kind of support group to survive long term. I offered to share preps, but not adopt the two of them in exchange for some mutually shared assistance. Michael and Amy know I will stretch what I got to the limit to help them and then we will have to make some other arrangements so don’t worry yourself over that. I think we all are going to do just fine after getting into the routine of being more selfsufficient over the coming months. We got plenty of stored food for that transition.” Donald said hopefully.
“I think Janice really wants to come to your place but doesn’t want to decide just yet.” Betty offered. “We shall see. I hope she does; we need the extra preps and help. Her sister always turned her nose up at us prepping and now Janice has to decide to giveaway some of her food to her and her Mom. We each had a whole personal years worth we accumulated over the years but now we will soon be reduced in a couple months to a box of traps and a .22 to survive much longer. Food procurement is going to be a 24/7 thing and it will get more dangerous and difficult before it gets any better. Unfortunately, it only gets better as the population reduces that is competing for the same resources. We probably already got zombies wandering around. By that zombie label I mean mindless ravenous people wandering the earth in search of food. Horrible sights are on the horizon of walking skeletons that starvation has yet to claim and it’s going to be pitiful. No, we are not staying around here for that and I don’t see any other choice for us but to settle in and try to defend ourselves a little patch of ground. It will level off eventually, transport is moving somewhat but the city is not the place for me to be hanging around.” Donald remarked assuredly.
“I got my bags packed and extra towels and linens already boxed up.” Betty said trying to coax her son into making a definitive decision on when they were leaving what might soon be a hell-hole existence.
“Let me go by the local agency office tomorrow and then hopefully I will meet up with Janice and after that I will make a quick decisio
n to most likely leave the morning after. I wouldn’t mind spending some more time with Lowbuck and Cat before they have to go. I don’t know why I am going to waste the gas to go down to the office, but I suppose it’s just an effort to say I tried to report in. By the way, have you smelled very much grilling going on? It’s been almost two weeks and folks that don’t have natural gas stoves likely have burned up what charcoal they had on hand.” Donald asked trying to gauge the city populace’s conditions.
“Now that you mention it, it smells more like wood smoke and burnt paper around here. No cooking meat smells. The first week it smelled like one big barbecue joint around here. Guess everyone is cooking can goods by now with no ice or refrigeration. Water and gas are still on thank God, though. I have been boiling the water like you said just to be on the safe side after the first week. By the way, that PVC access hole you showed me for the sewer connection outside is too tight for me to open. That would have been a real mess if I hadn’t been able to stuff it full of rags if the sewers started to backup after the water went off. I want you to fix that before we leave; I don’t want to have a mess to come back to.” Donald’s Mom said positively and he flinched because he doubted it would ever happen in her lifetime that a return trip might be considered.
“I bet she makes the beds before we leave also.” Donald mused to himself with a half smile she was taking it so well.
Donald didn’t know it, but back on his other home front Michael and LowBuck were making some serious progress on his little field fortification.
LowBuck and Michael were straining to set the large log center pole onto its posts for Donald’s cookhouse bunker when Amy and Cat wandered up from the house.
“Damn that Donald, here we are we two bad backs and that sucker probably has found the only bar open this side of the Mason Dixon Line open and is having a good old time.” Michael said trying to wiggle the beam closer to the notch it was supposed to sit in.
“I hope he is at that, means he might be toting back some booze before I take off. Ok, hold what you got.” Bubba said, heaving the heavy beam the last few inches it needed to go in on his side.